Wind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a tower, a generator, a gearbox, a nacelle mounted on the tower, and a rotor coupled to the nacelle. The rotor typically includes a rotatable hub and a plurality of rotor blades coupled to and extending outwardly from the hub. The rotor blades capture kinetic energy of wind using known airfoil principles. More specifically, the rotor blades transmit the kinetic energy in the form of rotational energy so as to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to the gearbox, or if the gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
During normal operation, wind turbines can be exposed to extreme wind gusts, turbulent wind pockets, and extreme wind shear. Such extreme wind conditions can impact the life of the mechanical components of the wind turbine, as well as the optimum power performance. Current control technologies estimate the effective wind speed (i.e. the average wind speed across the rotor) of the wind turbine based on power, pitch angle, and generator speed of the turbine. The effective wind speed is then used to determine the loads acting on the wind turbine. As such, current control methods do not account for the blade dynamics, which may lead to a lag in the estimation corresponding to a rotor azimuth angle offset of as much as 30 to 40 degrees.
In view of the aforementioned, the present disclosure provides a system and method for controlling a wind turbine based on a three-dimensional spatial wind field that takes into account blade dynamics so as to reduce the impact of extreme wind conditions acting on the wind turbine.